Piggie's had a puggle!

marksierra

Dec 21, 2015 at 9:46pm Edited

In case you're wondering, Piggie is a short-beaked echidna. She was stolen from a wildlife sanctuary on Queensland's Gold Coast in early August. Fortunately, she was found a few days later.

Echidna offspring are known as puggles.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-22/kidnapped-echidna-piggie-gives-birth-to-puggle/7048102

joanne

Dec 22, 2015 at 2:14pm

It's a very big deal, thanks for posting this.

There was a terrible outcry when Piggie was 'napped on a drunken dare. she's fairly delicate, and needs special care, so to have live puggles is really huge news.

In other not exciting news, someone allowed their dog to ferret out two rare-bird eggs very close to hatching in nests that were alert-signed by community birdwatchers in the same general area. That means the endangered bird population in that area for that species, which could have gone up to 17, now remains at 15 with one bird very sick.

And two supposedly extinct sea snakes from East Timor-way were found alive and er, um, in passionate embrace in Western Australian waters! Woo-hoo!!

marksierra

Dec 22, 2015 at 3:37pm Edited

Which leads to the question... how do snakes embrace? Carefully.

lisat

Dec 23, 2015 at 8:35am

joanne said:

It's a very big deal, thanks for posting this.

There was a terrible outcry when Piggie was 'napped on a drunken dare. she's fairly delicate, and needs special care, so to have live puggles is really huge news.

In other not exciting news, someone allowed their dog to ferret out two rare-bird eggs very close to hatching in nests that were alert-signed by community birdwatchers in the same general area. That means the endangered bird population in that area for that species, which could have gone up to 17, now remains at 15 with one bird very sick.

And two supposedly extinct sea snakes from East Timor-way were found alive and er, um, in passionate embrace in Western Australian waters! Woo-hoo!!

I love when extinct animals are found!

joanne

Dec 23, 2015 at 9:21am

Here's the link! oh oh

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-22/extinct-sea-snakes-discovered-at-ningaloo/7047906

PeggyC

Dec 23, 2015 at 10:44am

This headline has had me scratching my head for days. Kidnapping an echidna is a new low for creepy deeds. Glad the mother is okay and gave birth successfully.

Although now the entire story has me shaking my head in puzzlement.

joanne

Dec 23, 2015 at 12:54pm Edited

College student-style prank: fella got drunk, climbed over the fence of the wildlife sanctuary and figured it'd be fun to kidnap a native animal and beat-up a headline while demanding a ransom. Wasn't quite expecting the outcry over Miss Piggie's disappearance, let alone the social media super-sleuthing, so he couldn't play the hero and return her with a fanfare. What's a repentant drunk to do? Drop her back in the bushes by the gate at night, and make it look like she 'just popped out for a walk' - except the security system captured his car or face and he was traced. Um, yeah.

From memory, her pregnancy was discovered on Piggie's return.

I'm really happy she's had a good outcome; echidnas are cute and necessary, just like wombats. Never mistake them for being benign, they're not, but they're nearly blind in normal conditions and will leave humans alone if we let them.

joanne

Dec 23, 2015 at 4:10pm

if you're fascinated by Aussie animals, and want a good news story: yay for the bum-breathing turtles!!

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-24/vulnerable-bum-breathing-fitzroy-river-turtles-protected/7006430

marksierra

Dec 23, 2015 at 8:21pm

I've lost the link to the sheep that thinks that cows are its family. LOL

PeggyC

Dec 24, 2015 at 2:35am

Australia's wildlife are a never-ending source of astonishment.

marksierra

Dec 24, 2015 at 4:16am

PeggyC said:

Australia's wildlife are a never-ending source of astonishment.

You ought to visit.

smile

joanne

Dec 24, 2015 at 7:09am

(I re-sent the sheep thing, dearest)

We've had a week of stunning news gathering by the national broadcaster's science/environment/rural teams. Partly lucky timing, partly the online news editors wanting to leave the year with a display of all-round indepth reach and knowledge, I think, because over the last couple of years the ABC has taken a terrible amount of abuse and cuts by the govt (its principal founder).

There was another lovely story of a dog (I think it was a Blue Heeler/ Aussie Shepherd) that "herded"/protected a colony of Little Penguins in NSW.